Creative Projects with LEGO Mindstorms [Paperback]

LEGO(r) Mindstorms™TM has already turned hundreds of thousands of people into active robotics hobbyists. Now, there's a complete, serious guide to building LEGO Mindstorms robots. LEGO Mindstorms insider Benjamin Erwin presents 16 highly-creative, start-to-finish projects -- all explained step-by-step in the book, and presented in full color on the accompanying CD-ROM, with accompanying movies. This is far more than a "cookbook": Erwin shares unparalleled insight into the critical thinking and programming skills behind successful robotic building, stressing the connections between LEGO engineering and real-world engineering. He focuses on practical construction and programming techniques, drawing upon his extensive experience to help robot-builders avoid the pitfalls that often frustrate them. Every chapter starts with "Inspirations" that help readers understand where the ideas for the robot came from, and ends with "Further Work" suggestions for improvements or modifications. From "Tickle Me LEGO" to "Flashlight Follower," "Animal Feeder" to "Bubble Machine," each project is supplemented with even more detailed, full-color instructions, movies, and other resources on CD-ROM -- including code built with RCX, NQC, ROBOLAB, and Visual Basic.

With its emphasis on building technical skills and having fun, LEGO Mindstorms has become a popular "toy" for technological tinkerers of all ages. This book-CD package helps you build a variety of exciting robots, and in the process expands your programming knowledge, enhances your problem-solving skills, and boosts your creativity.

Creative Projects with LEGO® Mindstorms™ walks you through the creation of several different kinds of robots: basic mobile robots, kinetic sculptures, robotic animals, data-gathering robots, and robots that can communicate over the Internet. As the book progresses, the robots become increasingly sophisticated and the programming becomes more complex. Specific projects include:

• Walking Dog
• Line Follower
• Animal Feeder
• The Painter
• Bubble Machine
• Flashlight Follower
• Smart Acrobot
• Giraffe

The ultimate goal of this book, however, is not just to help you build the book's model robots, but to transcend the instructions to create robots of your own invention. With that in mind, the author explores the inspiration behind each robot's design, the problem-solving that went into its creation, and further modifications you can incorporate into your own projects.

Clear color photos illustrate each step in the design process, and the accompanying CD-ROM features instructions, color movies of robots in action, and code examples in RCX, NQC, ROBOLAB, and Visual Basic for sixteen robots. NQC software and a demonstration version of the ROBOLAB software are also included on the CD.

You will thoroughly enjoy building the projects in this book, and you'll learn a great deal about the inspiration, design, and construction of robots.